Curbing air pollution in Kolkata, India

DW (English)

Kolkata has been witnessing alarming winter air pollution levels, like many other big Indian cities. Conventional vehicles and pollution from roadside eateries are two major problems. Is the government doing enough?

Transcript

00:00It's 6 p.m. in Kolkata, the day before Diwali.

00:07These people are participating in cycling with lights.

00:10In about 30 hours, fine particulate matter levels in the air will rocket to even higher

00:17levels than normal, the perfect time for an initiative designed to bring attention to

00:23pollution in the city.

00:26With some 24,000 people per square kilometre, Kolkata is one of the most densely populated

00:48cities in the world.

00:50The roads are choked.

00:52Every year, almost 90,000 additional vehicles are registered, according to the Centre of

00:56Science and Environment.

00:58The vast majority have combustion engines.

01:01All that is taking its toll on air quality here.

01:04Beyond a point, you really cannot expand your road network.

01:08And you have seen the kind of traffic that builds up.

01:12And we know that the traffic of vehicles that are caught in congestion, they emit a lot

01:17more than they're designed to emit.

01:19So all of that is making the transport sector a very serious challenge.

01:24Older diesel vehicles are the worst culprits when it comes to fine particulate matter emissions,

01:30which are particularly harmful to human health.

01:33And almost all large vehicles, like buses and trucks, have diesel engines.

01:38In 2022, the National Green Tribunal ordered the state of West Bengal to face out all vehicles

01:45that were older than 15 years, or that exceeded certain emission limits within six months.

01:50It was a start, but there is still a long way to go in the transport sector.

01:56We are trying to promote more and more cleaner fuel.

02:03Pipeline gas has reached almost nearer to Kolkata.

02:06It will be shortly reaching here, the pipeline will be reaching here.

02:11We have some EV charging stations.

02:13We have registered about 18,000 vehicles during the last one year or so.

02:20And Kolkata police has decided not to purchase any diesel vehicle in future.

02:26But at the same time, the city has practically eliminated its tram network.

02:31Kolkata was the first Indian city to have trams, and the only one where a few are still

02:36in operation.

02:38The authorities say trams cause congestion by competing with vehicles on the roads.

02:44Environmentalists are outraged.

02:48We are actually asking for upgradation of this technology, like solar-powered tram with

02:54modern technology and the exclusive tram track.

02:59So the government should think over it.

03:03Traffic is responsible for more than half of fine particulate matter pollution in Kolkata.

03:09Roadside stoves, garbage incineration, dust from building sites are all additional sources

03:18of air pollution.

03:20Elderly people, the sick and children are particularly at risk.

03:24But it's a potential health hazard for everyone.

03:28That's because actually what these poisoning gases does.

03:32They just triggers the immune system.

03:34That's why we are getting these kind of attacks, that is asthma attacks or COPD attacks,

03:39that is we call lung attack.

03:43Students at the Shree Shiksha Yathan School in South Kolkata are the lucky ones.

03:48This is a green campus, and environmental education is an integral part of the curriculum.

03:53I do not have a pen.

03:55A trust donated real-time air quality monitors to the school, so they can keep a close eye

04:01on levels.

04:03If the air pollution is too high, the students stay inside.

04:08We have been constantly monitoring the air quality index in our school, where three to

04:12four people are responsible for it.

04:15We have an app in our phones where we can see and we can monitor, we can check.

04:19Right now, it is moderate.

04:22The city first launched its Clean Air Action Plan in 2020.

04:27Special vehicles regularly sprinkle entire streets with water to help cut dust levels.

04:33This is already helping to improve things, along with other measures.

04:39We got the industrial units to move out of coal, and that was substituted.

04:46They have converted auto rickshaws to LPG, and the collection efficiency of municipal

04:53solid waste has increased.

04:55They have given subsidy to replace the solid fuel-based cooking with the LPG cooking.

05:05But Kolkata still has one of the worst particulate matter pollution levels in India, so more

05:12must be done in the long run.

05:18One, it really requires a very ambitious electrification program of vehicles.

05:24Other sectors, like the waste sector, has to ensure 100% segregation and absolutely

05:31100% collection, and then the material recovery, and also ramping up your renewable energy portfolio.

05:39Kolkata also has districts in which people can go shopping or go to work or school within

05:45a radius of three to five kilometers of their homes.

05:49Other cities can only dream of such a thing.

05:53Compared with other cities in India, Kolkata's residents use public transport a lot.

05:59The city needs to capitalize on those strengths, and that's what the participants of Cycling

06:05with Lights are fighting for too.

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